Table of Contents

How Do You Know If You Are Ready for Redevelopment?

by Jim Caprell

Reversing Unwelcoming Welcome Habits

by Peter W. Marty

Renewing a Mainline Congregation Requires More Than Praise Music and Small Groups

by R. Robert Cueni

How to Address the Stress Points in Turnaround Churches

by William M. Easum

Revitalizing the Rural (or Anywhere!) Church

by James A. Shelly

So Tell Me...Interviews with Faithful, Effective, and Innovative Leaders:  Featuring Ron Martoia

by Norman Jameson

Turnaround Congregations Moving from Decline to Health, Growth, Renewed Mission

by Marta Poling-Goldenne

Building the Human Resources Team

by Thomas G. Bandy

The Church That's Continually Opening New Doors

by Dale E. Galloway

Coaching Corner

by George W. Bullard, Jr.

            For the past twenty-five years I have worked with congregations individually and in clusters on processes classically called congregational redevelopment. Each new congregational coaching situation affirms previous learnings or yields new learnings about congregational-redevelopment trends.

            In recent years I led three cluster congregational-redevelopment processes. The smallest group involved six congregations simultaneously, and the largest had eleven. The denominational families represented in these clusters were Baptist, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian.

            I am always interested in isolating factors that seem to enable congregations to successfully redevelop or be transformed as a result of the process. We also surface some factors that hinder redevelopment or transformation, as well as examining the denomination’s role in this process.

Factors That Empower Transformation

            Pastor, passion, and position—in that order—are the three factors most likely seen in a congregation experiencing transformation. First, the pastor must play a critical positive role as an initiating leader of the process of redevelopment or transformation. If she or he does not support the process, then it will likely fail. The pastor need not be a flashy, overpowering leader. He or she simply has to be personally positive and passionate about the future of the congregation, plus possess a willingness and basic process skills to coach the congregation forward.

            Second, an initiating leadership community of laity must be deeply passionate about the congregation’s future. This community then creates and nurtures a positive, passionate movement of laity and clergy leaders who fuel and flavor, or drive and navigate, the redevelopment process until the church achieves transformation. These people will not necessarily hold the key elected or appointed positions in the congregation, although they may. Nor are these necessarily the key influencers or long-term power persons in the congregation, although they may be.

            Within this initiating leadership community, one to three strong—almost zealous—champions of transformation emerge as leaders. They skillfully and gracefully champion the changes and transitions that need to take place along the spiritual strategic journey to transformation. The existence of lay champions is one of the most important factors in congregational transformation.

            This initiating leadership community will comprise a minimum of seven people or 7 percent—whichever is larger—of the average number of adults present each weekend for worship at one or more congregational services.

Third, people of position compose the next leadership community for transformation. These people hold the formal and informal decision-making roles in the congregation. While not always the people of greatest passion about the congregation’s future, by position and power they are competent and committed to lead the congregation to fulfill its full kingdom potential. In addition, the congregation highly respects them and will proactively support their leadership in a spiritual, strategic journey toward reaching the church’s full kingdom potential.

If these persons catch the passion of the pastor and the initiating leadership community, then they give permission for, empower, and resource change and transition to happen. Some would say that the key influencers need to commit to the change and transition before new efforts are started. In congregations that transform, this does not seem to apply. Rather, passionate people create and nurture a movement. Then positional leaders recognize the new movement as good and seek to further empower it.

            The number of passionate leaders and positional leaders should cumulatively equal or exceed twenty-one people or 21 percent—whichever is larger—of the average number of adults present each weekend for worship at one or more congregational services.

            A fourth factor that empowers transformation is a commitment to adult discipleship development. If the congregational leaders are on a personal spiritual strategic journey to deepen the dimensions of their own discipleship, then transformation is more likely. They are also likely to create opportunities for others to grow as disciples.

            A key part of this factor is that persons who grow as disciples willingly talk about their faith with others in the congregation. Some are willing to talk with persons outside their congregation, including pre-Christians or unchurched persons. When people are unwilling to talk about their personal Christ-centric faith journeys, even within their own congregation, then transformation is not likely to happen. A Christ-centric faith journey has both personal and faith-community dimensions, and both must be expressed.

            Fifth is the factor of engaging in congregational transformation with a cluster of congregations. I find that the accountability created in a cluster process and the support and insights of fellow congregations help empower transformation. Congregational leaders find comfort, support, and challenge in the similar journeys of fellow congregations. The interchurch fellowship, created as they travel along a common journey, inspires congregations to take bolder action than they would have attempted without other congregations’ affirmation.

Factors That Hinder Transformation

            Obviously, absence of the factors that empower transformation will hinder transformation. That means the lack of the pastor, passion, and position leadership factors; little focus on adult discipleship development; and no accountability or mutual learning with other congregations will hinder transformation. Two additional factors can also thwart change.

            First, congregations that have not adequately dealt with past decisions and actions that negatively impacted or controlled them will not likely transform without radical change and transition that involves their reinventing themselves.

            Often congregations’ motivation to engage in a congregational redevelopment process arises from some great conflict or series of crises in the past from which they have not recovered. They come to congregational redevelopment in search of the Holy Grail of future congregational success. Generally these congregations are not ready to make the changes and transitions necessary. They may already have tried other redevelopment processes that did not work for them.

            Recently I have run across several congregations that considered relocation ten to twenty years ago, but the emotional attachment to place by a few vocal people blocked their efforts at redevelopment. Many times these vocal persons, now no longer related to the congregation, could not see the long-term consequences of blocking relocation without having a positive goal for reinvesting in ministry in their current context.

            Second, many congregations have forgotten how to reach new people and bring them into their congregation. Clueless about micro-ministry approaches that help people along a specific spiritual strategic journey, these churches focus primarily on macro-ministry addressing generalized social, physical, and psychological issues. Congregations that cannot see people as individuals of worth created in the image of God to live and to love, but only as categories to which they provide an occasional cup of cold water, will not successfully transform.

The Denomination’s Role in Congregational Transformation

            The involvement of the denomination and its staff as a coach or encourager is a valuable resource for congregations. When this is carried out in partnership with an outside facilitator, clusters of congregations can effectively work their way through redevelopment processes that may lead to transformation.

            Denominational staff should come alongside congregations as they journey toward transformation. They should be proactive to help at key points where a congregation asks for assistance in taking next steps. To do this, denominational staff must have a clear vision of transformation and must exemplify congregational and denominational transformation in the way they carry out their ministry.

            Particularly for midsize congregations with 100 to 300 in average weekly worship attendance, the denominational staff plays a critical role. Many of these congregations have a strong, positive sense of their denominational identity and represent well the ethos of their denomination.

Unfortunately many denominational organizations, because of previous ineffectiveness in helping congregations with conflicts and crises, have to work on regaining the confidence of the congregations they say they serve.

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